The correctional court of Montluçon (Allier) gave the final whistle to this case, this Thursday, March 18, 2021. AS Verneix football player, aged 47, was thus recognized guilty of violence on a person entrusted with a public service mission during a sporting event. In this case the arbitrator ofa match played on February 15, 2020 in Désertines, between the local club and Verneix.
The convictions
The 40-year-old will have to follow a citizenship course within six months, under penalty of having to serve two months in prison. Last June he had been suspended thirteen years by the disciplinary committee of the Allier district. A sanction reduced to nine years, at the beginning of July, by the regional appeal commission of the League.
Review of the suspension reduced from thirteen to nine years in July 2020
A reminder of the facts
At the end of this meeting lost by his team, the defendant, expelled a few minutes earlier (Red card) for “annihilation of an action of purpose and inappropriate words”, found himself near thethen 21-year-old referee returning to the locker room.
The player then hit the ball that the official was holding in his arms and the official received a violent blow to the right cheekbone. After consulting two doctors, the second had diagnosed a fracture worth the young man four days of ITT (total incapacity for work).
The detailed factual reminder in February 2020
Thursday’s hearing
I’m innocent other than kicking the ball. I was wrong, I shouldn’t have. I apologized and am doing it again.
The accused
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The victim’s lawyer, Me Gilles-Jean Portejoie, insisted on “the physical, psychological and psychiatric damage” caused to his client, who had made a suicide attempt a little after. He is also still medically monitored. “On a field, you are a dangerous man “, He also said to the forties, who had already been suspended ten games in 2014 for his behavior towards a referee.
In defense, the player’s counsel, Me Southon, pointed out “the contradictions and variations in versions” of certain witnesses. ” The materiality of the facts is not established “, He noted before asking for the release of his client. Finally, the public prosecutor has, for his part, required three months suspended prison sentence to “show that these facts have a proven seriousness and that they should not be repeated”.
The jugement
The court was therefore more lenient. The player must nevertheless compensate the victim, the Primary Health Insurance Fund for health costs, as well as the National Union of Football Referees in the Allier (Unaf 03) up to the symbolic euro. The latter did not fail to react just after the hearing:
“Whether this conviction was small or large was not our problem. The important thing was that he be found guilty and that this deter possible future aggressors. ”
Richard Aujon (legal delegate and secretary general of Unaf 03)
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Climate of tension on and around the pitches: Allier football referees cry out their fed up [25/02/2020]
Luc Barre
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